Two Great Applications: Compare Dropbox V Google Drive
When I compare Dropbox V Google Drive, my opinions have changed over the years because Google Drive has expanded its products. Both technologies have enormous value.
Not all technology eliminates frustration and irritation from my life, but for the most part, these two applications do. For the past six years, I used Google Docs almost daily. Five years ago, I could have been a Dropbox salesperson. I kept my day job because both of these products are free.
Without Storage Drives
Five years ago when I worked as an educational consultant, I often worked on large projects with several collaborators across the state of California. Projects usually needed lots of edits. Before I learned about Dropbox, I emailed myself work to do at home. I would write or edit, then email it back to work, where my secretary/editor would continue to correct. We had so many copies on our computers that we got lost in the stacks of virtual files. We created new names, and new files to keep them all straight.
Cloud-Based Storage Improves Collaboration
Dropbox and Google both store documents on the web and have different benefits. Five years ago I preferred Dropbox for most uses because of the following reasons.
1) Dropbox uses whatever software you are using. I use Microsoft products, and Dropbox stores all my documents as Word Docx or other Office documents. Most people say they receive and can open up a document that I send them from Dropbox.
2) Google Drive has its own products like Microsoft. After six years of constant use, I prefer these now. Some people say they cannot open them when I email the link. There is a learning curve to opening and using a Google Doc. For example, if someone sends you a Google Doc, you have to edit THAT doc from the link he or she sent you. If you save it and edit in your Drive, it will not save to the shared doc.
3) Dropbox remains available offline making it convenient for the user. Google Drive works better online.
4) Notifications Everyone with whom I have shared a Dropbox folder gets a message every time I make a change on a document. People say, “I got lots of notifications that you modified the documents. You must work hard.” Did you hear that boss? I’m never satisfied with what I write, but they might also be seeing all my secretary’s or one of my collaborator’s hard work instead. I just smile, the project is active! Google Drive sends an email.
5) Click a tab to view Dropbox revisions. Google revisions show in the file menu “See Revision History”
However, in spite of my love for Dropbox, there are some things that Google does better.
1) If you collaborate in real-time, you can see the Google Dive edits instantly, and chat as you write. It’s confusing but doable. With Dropbox, the changes do not appear until you save and sync your document. Even then, your collaborator still sees the old material, until they close their offline version, and reopen it. Losing immediacy is not convenient when you are working in real-time together, even when you are all in the same room.
2) I had an another experience in which several of us were taking notes on the agenda created in a shared Dropbox folder. My notes wrote over someone else’s notes, and his digital scribbles were gone, and all Dropbox had to say about it was “Marsha’s corrupted copy” Both of us were red in the face that time. Mine was embarrassed.
Storage Space Compare Dropbox V Google Drive
3) Both applications have a lot of free storage space. Google has more. Because my photos have loaded automatically on Dropbox, I have maxed out my storage space. To earn more storage, get your friends to use Dropbox. If you want to open up another Dropbox account with a different email account, you get more space, without having the convenience of offline accessibility. In six years or so I have never run out of space with Google Drive.
If you want extra storage, compare Dropbox V Google Drive. Here are the current prices.
Google Drive
15GB- Free
100GB- $1.99 per month
1TB- $9.99 per month
Dropbox
2GB- Free
Up to 16GB- Free, if you refer friends. With a basic free account, you get an extra 500MB per referral, and you can earn up to 16GB total through this method. Paid users get 1GB instead of 500MB per referral.
1TB- $9.99 per month
How Lucky Are We to Compare Dropbox V Google Drive?
When I was a middle school student, my mother brought me the homework I forgot to take to school. Moms of the”iGeneration” will never understand that chore. Teachers can get access to homework instantly. Even the dog can’t eat it. Thank you technological cyber-geniuses. That’s one less problem for moms in the twenty-first-century world.
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Which is your favorite cloud storage, or do you use something else?
Marsha Ingrao - Always Write 
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